1. Daffodils! Not growing yet, unfortunately, but in the grocery store. I will often slip a little something into the grocery budget that’s just for me, something I don’t have to share with my little ones. Usually that’s a ridiculously expensive piece of chocolate, but this week, it had to be daffodils. Goodness, but they smell wonderful. Yesterday, they were practically glowing in the sunshine. I smile each time I pass them, or catch a whiff.

2. I am making again! So much for not diving right back in. I’ve finished one dishcloth, cast on for another, and completed a baby gift I’ve had planned since before the sweet little girl was born several months ago. It’s the Mini Folk Letter cross stitch from What Delilah Did. I really enjoy cross stitching, but it’s rare for me to come across a pattern I’d actually want to hang in my home. These folksy monograms are adorable, and perfect for the nursery. They come together relatively quickly, too. If you don’t procrastinate {ahem}.

3. Oatmeal gets a bad rap. For a long time, I thought of it as one of those healthy, boring, stick-to-your-ribs meals that moms try to push on you, and thus I destroyed any nutritional value it might have had by drowning it in butter and brown sugar. I’m beginning to think I misjudged you, oatmeal. Twice now I’ve come home from sunrise yoga wanting nothing else. I’ve scaled back on (but not eliminated) the butter and brown sugar, and added walnuts. It’s cheap, it’s natural and preservative-free, it’s warming and nourishing. I think I’m in love.

4. We did a little exploring the other day, driving out to Sugarloaf and gawking at the mountains. We stopped at a little place for lunch on our way back – the Orange Cat Cafe – where the girls were instantly enamored with its namesake, a fluffy creature named Copper who roamed freely as we ate. The decor was such a crazy collection of colors and plants, and all of us were instantly comfortable. The food was good, too!

5. I know we have some weeks left until spring actually arrives, and I’m not experiencing any of the despondency that sometimes comes with February, but I do miss the green, and I find myself drawn to the plants and the trees, the seed catalogs and the sunshine. I’ve gone back to the flower section in the Johnny’s catalog again and again, thinking about what to order and dreaming of getting my hands back in the dirt. The zinnias are calling to me.

6. I’ve also been thinking a lot about plastic. Good gracious, it’s everywhere, and it’s disgusting. If you take a moment and really look around your home, it’s alarming just how much of what you use is plastic. I’m sketching out a series for you here on reducing some of that plastic, coming up with simple alternatives for some of the high use areas, and beginning to make conscious choices about how I can cut back for our family. I’m also tossing around the idea of a visual garbage audit – dumping, sorting and cataloging a week’s worth of our garbage for a clear picture of what we’re throwing “away.” Would you be interested in that? I think I’m equal parts curious and terrified, with a good bit of shame thrown in there, because I know it won’t be pretty.

What are you up to?